NFL donating to local groups aimed at helping domestic abuse victims amid coronavirus pandemic
Millions of Americans are now under some form of a shelter-in-place order due to the COVID-19 pandemic, something that will undoubtedly help curb the spread of the deadly virus.
Being stuck at home, however, isn’t always the safest place for people to be.
So, with an increased risk of domestic violence across the country, the NFL is planning to award grants to select grass-roots organizations in areas most impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, according to USA Today.
[ Coronavirus: How the sports world is responding to the pandemic ]
While those organizations haven’t been announced yet, the league is planning to donate around $10,000 to at least a dozen recipients.
The league sat down with its advisers in recent weeks wondering how it could best help out amid the coronavirus — which had infected nearly 500,000 people in the United States alone as of Friday night. Instead of simply donating a large amount of money to one large organization, the NFL said it was told that smaller donations to community groups would have a bigger impact.
“[These] are grass-roots organizations that wouldn’t necessarily be recipients of huge grants,” said Anna Isaacson, the league’s senior vice president of social responsibility, via USA Today. “But they can use an infusion of cash that can help with emergency needs now.”
According to NBC News, the Houston police department received roughly 300 more domestic violence calls in March than it did in February. Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, received more than 500 additional calls in March, while Phoenix police had almost 200 additional calls in March.
Cherokee County, South Carolina, Sheriff Steve Mueller said his county saw a 35 percent increase in cases in March compared to February.
“The financial stress alone creates a ticking time bomb for some families with a history of domestic violence,” Mueller said, via NBC News. “Unfortunately many of these domestic violence cases occur in front of children and often the children become victims of abuse and assault, as well.”
Isaacson said the NFL plans to continue its contributions in other ways amid the crisis, too. Initially, though, they felt that this approach was a good starting point.
“For this round, we [decided] we would focus really on these grass-roots organizations that are literally serving people every day, through direct service,” Isaacson said, via USA Today.
More from Yahoo Sports:
